Alisa Manjarrez, who runs a marketing agency, hosts a podcast and leads an executive coaching practice, joins Niiamah Ashong on the Outlier's Edge Podcast to talk about letting the world know all that she is. She shares how she has become even more okay with being too hard to explain, and the book that is starting to brew in her. What emerged is that showing up in her own way is exactly what helps other people feel they belong.
Episode at a glance
- Guest: Alisa Manjarrez, Marketing agency leader, podcast host and executive coach
- Host: Niiamah Ashong, coach to outlier leaders
- Show: Outlier’s Edge Podcast, released November 29, 2022
- Format: conversation, 50 minutes
- Topics: Wearing many hats, A passion-packed life, Early indicators and burnout, Faith and a book in the making, Being seen for what a person chose, Showing up so others belong
What Alisa brought to the conversation
Alisa Manjarrez lives what she calls a passion-packed life. She runs a marketing agency with a team of creative friends, telling stories with Fortune 500 companies and producing podcasts, hosts a podcast about outsmarting the game to advance in a career, and has an executive coaching practice. Niiamah Ashong describes her as someone who brings every part of herself into a relationship, showing him that friendship and real work can share one relationship, and that relationships where everything is on the table have the longest legs. A book is starting to take shape about how to co-create a life with God, and the layers she wants to share include her faith, her career drive, her coaching, her creativity and her philosophy on life.
What emerged
The central thread is being seen in full. At a recent business event for Latina women, Alisa Manjarrez didn't feel represented even though many of her layers were in the room, and for the first time she felt alone with power: she decided it was time to share all of herself. A friend once pointed out that by simply showing up on a podcast with her brother, she was representing people like her. She now sees that when she shows up in her own way, someone else relates and feels like they belong, and Niiamah Ashong names the gift in that: in choosing to show up, they create space for other people.
Questions this episode answers
How do you explain what you do when you wear many hats?
Alisa Manjarrez says she has always had her hand in ten things, which makes it hard to explain who she is and what she does, and she doesn't feel true to herself when she's only doing one thing. Her growth has come from being even more okay with it being too hard to explain or too hard for people to understand.
How can a leader with many projects tell when they're taking on too much?
Alisa Manjarrez separates small, avoidable mistakes from burnout. The small mistakes are early indicators of too much on her plate for a period of time, while burnout builds over a long time and often came from doing things for other people without respecting her own boundaries. Noticing the indicators earlier, she says, has made her burnout less over the years.
What does it mean to be seen for who you've chosen to be?
Niiamah Ashong says that being categorized by things he didn't choose, like his skin tone, misses the mark, and that what matters is seeing and honoring the things a person has chosen. He connects it to Alisa Manjarrez's experience at an event that covered many of her layers, where she still didn't feel represented.
Where do you find belonging when you often feel like the only one?
Alisa Manjarrez feels most at home with her immediate family, and over the years she has learned to find friends who each share some of her favorite things, from her culture to going deep on faith to art. She says she has learned to take advantage of the beauty of other people despite differences.
How does showing up as yourself help other people belong?
Alisa Manjarrez says she can't stay in the feeling of being the only one for long, because when she shows up in her own way, someone else relates and feels like they belong. Niiamah Ashong adds that people have told him they had never seen a Black coach before, and that by choosing to show up, they create space for others.
In their words
I'm even more okay with it being too hard to explain or too hard for people to understand.
Alisa Manjarrez
When I do show up in my own way, someone else relates and feels like they belong.
Alisa Manjarrez
In choosing to be and choosing to show up, we actually create a lot of space for some other people.
Niiamah Ashong
Key moments
02:37 – Gratitude and the power of friendship
05:43 – Always having a hand in ten things
09:23 – Okay with being hard to explain
09:54 – Heralding every title
14:05 – Early indicators versus burnout
19:46 – The book that is brewing
21:21 – Feeling alone with power
32:46 – Being seen for what a person chose
37:29 – Not supposed to be here, and yet
42:38 – Showing up so others belong
About Niiamah Ashong
Niiamah Ashong is a coach to outlier leaders, host of the Outlier’s Edge Podcast, and founder of the Trailblazer Collective. He coaches leaders who are creating something only they can make: a company, a body of work or a movement. Make a difference with your difference.
Work with Niiamah: 1:1 with Niiamah | World of Difference
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